Buffum 10" Curved Adjustable

[HeelSpur]

I saw the other post with the Buffum tool and thought I'd show my only one.
Bought it from Papaw a couple years ago.

DSCF2211 by wvwheaties, on Flickr
DSCF2213 by wvwheaties, on Flickr

 

[PacificaVette]

That curved wrench looks really interesting. I had never heard of the Buffum company until I found that valve spring tool and read up on them. Maybe this can start a Buffum thread? Buffum claimed to be one of the largest tool producers of their time, so there should be plenty of their tools out there, but a search of Garage Journal only turned up a few posts. I wonder if the ******** logo turned people off during WWII and after, causing the tools to be sacrificed for the war effort.

 

[3baygarage]

Nice wrench HeelSpur. I don’t see many of their tools. A few years ago I ran into a tiny offset screwdriver and it did not have the ********. Wanted to buy it but having one of the blades altered I passed. Wish I hadn’t.

 

[Mick56]

Many years ago I had a Buffum bearing scraper, with the ******** on it. At the time, I had no idea what the tool was, figured it was some kind of tool for torture, and I no longer have it now. I was able to find this picture of one online.

 

[Bryan Burns]

Here's my Buffum contribution. Used it an hour ago.

 

[MR.X]

Maybe there's not a bunch of stuff about Buffum here because this is Garage Journal and not Barn Journal. OK, that sounded more sarcastic than I meant it to, oh well. I think the whole ******** thing interests people who without it wouldn't give Buffum tools a second glance. I used to live in Missouri and except for the gate latch things and the bearing scrapers I'd rarely see Buffum stuff. Having closed up in 1924? they missed out on the opportunities of the performance and design possibilities of alloy tools and the simultaneous rise of car culture.

 

[PacificaVette]

Maybe there's not a bunch of stuff about Buffum here because this is Garage Journal and not Barn Journal. OK, that sounded more sarcastic than I meant it to, oh well. I think the whole ******** thing interests people who without it wouldn't give Buffum tools a second glance. I used to live in Missouri and except for the gate latch things and the bearing scrapers I'd rarely see Buffum stuff. Having closed up in 1924? they missed out on the opportunities of the performance and design possibilities of alloy tools and the simultaneous rise of car culture.

According to some sources, they continued to operate until 1940. I found this reference from alloy-artifacts.org----

"Buffum tools were carried by some industrial distributors. The 1918 Ducommun catalog "E" lists three pages of Buffum tools starting on page 281, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, a cotter-pin remover, and an offset screwdriver.

The 1933 Ducommun catalog "H" lists Buffum tools on pages 178 and 179, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, and cotter-pin removers. Also listed is the No. 1750R bearing scraper set in a hardwood box."

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's interesting, PV. Note, though, that while they may have lasted longer, all of those tools are the types of tools typically made of high carbon steel, not expensive alloys. It's strange how they never outgrew what MR. X rightly refers to as the barn tools days.

I think the whole ******** thing interests people who without it wouldn't give Buffum tools a second glance.

Without a doubt. It's one of the more enigmatic factoids in this hobby. But plenty of collectors are fond of certain mfgrs explicitly and exclusively because of the logo, especially the first wave antique guys. And it's not that different than what draws people to some of the other vintage mfgrs. I know guys who collect Vlchek ("Velcheck") just because the name is so odd. And there are collectors out there who know nothing about Plomb but become fascinated by the whole Plomb/Plum lawsuit story.

My only Buffum piece isn’t even marked Buffum. Just has the ******** on it. And even more strangely, it's a leatherette tool roll for a set of Frank Mossberg motorcycle irons! Link here.

In a way it's a shame that the ******** gets all the attention, and then most people move on. Me too until I actually owned something that prompted me to look deeper. I was surprised by how big Buffum was. Alloy Artifacts dates Buffum to 1908, but they’re mistaken. I have dated them to at least 1887, with a reference on page 719, Volume 30, of Millard's Implement Directory. By 1917 they were calling themselves the largest toolmaker in the country, and they were making a wide variety of tools for a variety of industries, including bricklaying, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, mining, machinists, engineers (as in railroad), plumbing, and the nascent mechanic and "automobilist" industry. During WWI they made bayonets and airplane parts.

 

[MR.X]

According to some sources, they continued to operate until 1940. I found this reference from alloy-artifacts.org----

"Buffum tools were carried by some industrial distributors. The 1918 Ducommun catalog "E" lists three pages of Buffum tools starting on page 281, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, a cotter-pin remover, and an offset screwdriver.

The 1933 Ducommun catalog "H" lists Buffum tools on pages 178 and 179, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, and cotter-pin removers. Also listed is the No. 1750R bearing scraper set in a hardwood box."

Yep. I should of said sold in 24 not closed shop. That's kind of why i put "?" after 24, i just couldn't get motivated to research it and because I haven't seen a Buffum tool that couldn't have been made by 1924. Not that they didn't... I just haven't seen it.

 

[MR.X]

That's interesting, PV. Note, though, that while they may have lasted longer, all of those tools are the types of tools typically made of high carbon steel, not expensive alloys. It's strange how they never outgrew what MR. X rightly refers to as the barn tools days.


I have dated them to at least 1887, with a reference on page 719, Volume 30, of Millard's Implement Directory. By 1917 they were calling themselves the largest toolmaker in the country, and they were making a wide variety of tools for a variety of industries, including bricklaying, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, mining, machinists, engineers (as in railroad), plumbing, and the nascent mechanic and "automobilist" industry. During WWI they made bayonets and airplane parts.

Hi. could you post a pic of that 1887 reference?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If you click on the link to my Mossberg thread and scroll down, there's a link to it in there. EDIT: Link here. EDIT 2: Oh ****, Google Books is in error. They mislabeled the reference in their database. I never went to the title page to double-check them until just now. It's actually a 1917 Millard's that they have labeled as an 1887. Here's a screenshot of the return I got, erroneously dated 1887...

I'll have to go back and edit my thread.

 

[Provincial]

There is a vendor at the local flea market that has been trying to sell a Buffum puller with the ******** marking for a few years with no takers. He thinks the marking makes it desirable. So far no one has agreed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, it is desirable. There's no debate about that. They are collectible, and they sell at collectible prices. You didn't say HOW much he thought it was worth, but they definitely have a value to collectors. And that value is more than your everyday puller or Babbitt scraper etc etc without a ********. One look at WorthPoint or eBay archives will verify that. Granted, some vendors place too much value on it.

 

[PacificaVette]

There is a vendor at the local flea market that has been trying to sell a Buffum puller with the ******** marking for a few years with no takers. He thinks the marking makes it desirable. So far no one has agreed.

Is the puller like this one? It's a Buick valve spring puller. They still seem to be in demand among the classic Buick crowd.

 

[Provincial]

That's it! I didn't see any on Ebay sold listings.

 

[MR.X]

Before this thread goes any farther let me just be clear that i was only throwing out a possible reason for there not being a ton of stuff on GJ about Buffum ( and for all I know, maybe there is). I wasn't really (well maybe just a little bit) trying to suggest whether that was good or bad or right or wrong. If you've ever been to one of those Midwest tool auctions ( or just perused the auction pics online) with their fantastic early patent adjustables and countless tractor wrenches etc. you know just how much stuff is out there that hasn't really been covered, and probably doesn't need to be covered on GJ. Most of that stuff was accounted for long ago ie. it's in the hands of collectors, appears in wrench collecting books, and the odds of running into something like that AND a seller who doesn't know it's "value" at a swap, flea, garage or estate sale are pretty thin. Doesn't mean it wouldn't pay to know one when you see one of course. I'm just not down with paying retail. (though I've done that too). To quote Papa Joe Yakavetta from Boondock Saints that's "Taking all the fun,...outtathejob".

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Agreed. It doesn't surprise me at all that a Buffum tool would get passed over week after week at a swap meet or a flea market. It's not well known enough in a widespread way to demand the value that it sells for in niche informed markets. Also, I wouldn't expect there to be a ton of Buffum stuff here or even for Buffum to have its own thread the way the major mfgrs do. It's definitely one of those funky outlier brands. But it does show up here from time to time. As you alluded to upthread, typically the same things that show up everywhere else: the gate latch, the bearing scrapers, the "S" adjustable, the puller, and one of those heavy duty all-steel machinists's screwdrivers.

 

[1982fxr]

Someone in the states posted pics of a German metal lathe all swasi'd out once.

It somehow crossed the pond.

 

[HeelSpur]

Picked up a 7" gate latch.

DSCF2412 by wvwheaties, on Flickr
DSCF2411 by wvwheaties, on Flickr

 

[mjbuffum]

I see you all found my tools. You can mail them back to me at your convenience

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I snagged this all steel Extra Heavy Duty Machinists' screwdriver at the flea market this morning.

 

[Provincial]

Around here the seller would want a fortune for that "WWII Nazi screwdriver."

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Fortunately, I did not have to deal with either that or Buffum knowledge. It was just a steel machinists' screwdriver.

 

[TailGunner3000]

For those who may not know, the Buffum tool logo was the ********. The company went out of business in 1922, long before Nazi Germany was born.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I've already had loads of fun with it with my friends and family. I might wait another week or three before I Paul Harvey them. Hope I don't get hit by a bus first, in which case they'll probably be talking about dear old dad's Nazi screwdriver for a long time until they run into a knowledgeable tool collector. Boy are they gonna be pissed off at me then!

 

[PacificaVette]

According to some sources, Buffum continued to operate until 1940. I found this reference from alloy-artifacts.org----

"Buffum tools were carried by some industrial distributors. The 1918 Ducommun catalog "E" lists three pages of Buffum tools starting on page 281, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, a cotter-pin remover, and an offset screwdriver.

The 1933 Ducommun catalog "H" lists Buffum tools on pages 178 and 179, including bearing and carbon scrapers, packing tools, and cotter-pin removers. Also listed is the No. 1750R bearing scraper set in a hardwood box."

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If we're going to re-visit this, collectors should also note that many Buffum tools are found without the ******** logo. As far as I know, nobody has done an in depth look at whether that was a matter of simple manufacturing inconsistencies, type (some types of tools they made always got it, some always didn't), or chronology. The chronological aspect is the most intriguing.

In February of 1933 the Reichstag (Parliament) building was set on fire by arsonists. A couple weeks later Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and the NSDAP (Nazi) flag was hoisted for the first time, alongside the German national flag. Two years later it became the German national flag. One year after that, all hell started breaking loose.

It is plausible that all of the tools without a ******** could be from the late 1930's, with the idea that Buffum dropped it specifically because of events in Europe. Emphasis on plausible. I am not even speculating that is so, just saying that those facts (some Buffulm tools no logo, Buffum still making tools through 1940) do line up.

 

[four.cycle]

1910 Automobile Dealer and Repairer pp 543 Buffum Tool ad

1910 Hardware Dealers Catalog pp 220 Buffum Tool ad

1917 Pacific Hardware & Steel Co. catalog pp 100 Buffum Tool ad

Buffum Tool catalog front cover

Buffum Tool catalog No. 2 front cover

Buffum Tool catalog No. 2 pp 183

Buffum Tool catalog No. 2 section 5

 

[HeelSpur]

Picked up a 12" Buffum, I do believe the 12 & 14 inch adjustables were logo free just stamped.

DSCF0718 (2) by wvwheaties, on Flickr
DSCF0719 (2) by wvwheaties, on Flickr

 

[Ricky Joe]

Only Buffum tool I’ve ever owned. I just noticed that the size is only stamped on one end, although there are two different size openings.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Not sure what the mark near the ******** represents. Could be an owner’s mark. Second picture is of opposite side of end with ********, no size marked on this end.

 

[twertsy]

I can tell you they were gone by '45 when a lumber company began renovating their building. I find references to them (tool manufacturer listings) until 1937.

 

[twertsy]

If anyone has ancestry.com account that is the absolute best way I've found to discover precise information. They have all the city directories, listing companies in the town/surrounding area by industry. I have not renewed my account in a couple years.

 

[d42jeep]

This eBay listing was brought to my attention by friends. I thought that GJ members might like to see the pictures from the listing. The auction price is getting up there.
-Don